Screw-driver.



G. B. MULLEN.

' 'SGREW DRIVER.

APPLIOATION FILED mun 1a, 1911,

Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

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seem; a. MULLER, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR or CINE-HALF TO HENRY scnmm'r,

Tb'kizz whom it may concern .cBeiit known that I, GEORGE E. sascitizen of'the United MULLnN, States, and a resident aofilthe city of New York, Whitestone, borough of. Queens, in the county of Queens and State. of New York, have invented a new and Improved Screw-Driver, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

#This invention relates to screwdrivers for inserting and withdrawing wood or other screws, and has reference more particularly tea screw driver having with the screw driver and adapted to hold theiscrew in position relative to the blade.

;An "object of the invention is to provide a sc -Ten" driver of the character indicated w'vhlich can'be inexpensively manufactured,

and which can be manipulated with greater driver;

A further object of the invention is to pro-- vide a screw driver in which the screw clamping or holding device can be easily manipulated 'to render it operative and to release it. and in which the clamping device can be inoperatively positioned so that itwill not interfere with the ordinary use of the implement.

The invention consists in the P0!F**F".Itiol1 and coml'iinatioi'i of parts to be more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in the claims.

Refcrence'is to be had to the accompanying drawings 'torminga part of this specification, in which similar characters of referencc indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which Fio'nre l is a side elevation of an embodiment of my invention, showing the clamping device operative to hold a wood screw in engagement with the end of the blade; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the clamp inf: device inoperativcly disposed; Fig. 3 is a frag!century longitudinal section of the blade end of the screw driver showing the corresponding extremity of the clamping device; Fig. -1- is an enlarged cross section on the line -fi-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an enlarged end elevation showing a screw positioned at the extremity of the blade; Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross section on the line 6.6 of Fig. 2-; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a soREw-nntvnn.

Specification of Letters were. Application filed June s, 1911. Serial No. 632,879:

a shank, a blade atwthe end thereof adapted for engagement with a screw head, and a clamp associated" screw itself or being driven or from which it is being re- 70 ease and facilitythan the ordinary screw OF NEW YORK,.N. Y.

Patented Dec. 17, 1912-.

Wood screw of the kind adapt-ed for use with my screw driver. Before proceeding to a more detailed explana-tion of my invention, it should be clearly understood that while the screw driver is partly used inconnection with so wood screws, it may also, be advantageously used with other screws which areprovided wit-h slots, grooves or kerfs formed to receive the angularly shaped blade of the driver. It will be. appreciated that with the ordinary screw and? screw driver the'blade will often slip from engagement with the straight slot and thereby cause injury to the to the material in which it ismoved..' By-employing a screw dri-ier blade of angular cross section which is received in a'correspondingly formed slot, such slipping is obviated, and a more efficient engagement with the screw head The clamping device, which I prefer to employ with the screw ,driver, permits the screw to be held in operative relation with the blade end. This construction is of ob-v vious advantage, in that it allows the screw to be started into the material without first partly driving the. screw by means of a hammen'or without hold ng the screw manually during the initial part of the operation. The use of the clamping device thus leaves both hands of the operator free for the manipulationof the implement.

Certain of the details of construction,

shown for example. herewith, form no partof the invention. and can be varied in acy t cordance with indi 'ltlllfll preference and spe: cial conditions, without departing from the' underlying spirit ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I have shown, for example. a screw driver having a shank 10 of suitable length, and preferably of circular cross section. Ithas an enlargement 11 by means of which it is secured It will be understood that. the shank may also be provided with means to permit itr. attachment to a special form of handle, or, for "example, to a brace. The shank 10, at its 'fr'ee'end, is formed into a blade 13 of 105 cross shaped or angular cross section so that the. blade is virtually two blades set at right angles to each other. These separate blades is etfected thereby. 75

at the end of a suitable handle 12.

are of tapered form and are adapted to be received in the correspondingly formed kerf or slot 16 of the head 15 of. a wood or other screw 14.

The clamping device which I employ with my screw driver is movably mounted upon the shank 1O thereof,-and includes an elonto force the latter inwardly toward each other to clamp upon a screw head to hold the same in operative relation with the end of the blade, as is clearly shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5. The clamping device can be reversed in case the claws at one end or the other become worn or deformed.

Near the handle the shank of the screw driver has four notches or grooves 20 adapted to receive the ends of .the claws 18 at one end of the clamping device, so that the latter can be securely held in inoperative position with theend of the blade free and unobstructed for the ordinary operation of the screw driver. In this way-the clampin device will, not interfere with the use 0% the implement when' the clamping device itself is unnecessary.

Having thus described my invention, what I c'laim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A,screw driver having a shank, a blade at theend thereof adapted for engagement with a screw head, a tubular body slidable u on saidjslihnk and having at each end a p urality of spring claws adapted to engage the screw head, to hold the screw in position at the end of said blade, and clamping-rings slidable upon said body to move into and out of operatlve relation with said claws said shank having adjacent to its handle a plurality of grooves into engagement with-which the claws at the inner end of the tubular body may be'clamped to holdsaid body upon the shank in an inoperative position with the end of the shank projecting beyond the claws. V

2. A screw driver having a shank and a blade at. the end thereof for engagement with a screw head, and a screw holding device comprising a tubular body removably and slidably mounted upon the shank of the screw driver and having at each end a plurality of claws, and two clamping rings slidably mounted on the body to move into and out of operative relation with said claws, whereby the screw holding device can be reversed and the claws at the inner end of the body made to serve as a means for holding the device in an inoperative position.

' 3. A screw holding attachment for screw drivers, comprising a tubular body having each of its ends formedinto a plurality of claws, 'and two clamping rings slidably mounted on the tubular body to move into and out of operative relation with said claws. In testimony whereof I havesigned my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE B. MULLEN. Witnesses:

JOHN K. BRAClflOGEL, JOHN P. DAVIS. 

